The Rebeldes
by Female Marauder
Summary: AU: What if Harry had a twin brother, he was neglected as a child, ran away when he was 8, found other runaways and orphans, and formed a group called the Rebeldes that fought dark arts? This story, that's what. R&R Update: Dreaded AN Chapter WITH A SURPRISE ADDITION! Don't give up on me yet!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everybody!!! I'm back, and better than ever! This time, I'm writing Harry Potter Fics instead of Code: Lyoko! Sorry I haven't been posting lately, I've been REALLY busy. I got my inspiration for this fic from Little Miss Mionie. She has given me her permission to write this, and I give some of the credit to her. My story is SORT OF like hers, but it is different. Hope you like!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Chapter One

When people needed Dark Arts protection, they automatically thought of a group called "The Rebeldes." **(A/N: Spanish for Rebels)** They were considered the most elite and highly trained individuals in the world. Not many people knew that the Rebeldes consisted only of five, fifteen-year-old kids.

Albus Dumbledore did not know this when he summoned them for a meeting. He was in desperate need of help to protect Hogwarts against the newly risen Lord Voldemort. Especially now because the Ministry did not believe that he was back.

Currently, Dumbledore was in the kitchen of 12 Grimauld Place, which served as headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix. He was about to tell the Order that the Rebeldes were coming.

The adults gathered in the kitchen were Molly and Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black, and Lily and James Potter. Their children were also there. William aka Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ronald aka Ron, and Ginerva aka Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger (who was Ron's best friend), and, the so-called Boy-Who-Lived himself, Nate Potter were also in the kitchen.

"May I have everyone's attention please?" Dumbledore called. Everyone settled down and focused on Dumbledore.

"What's this all about, Albus?" Sirius called out. Dumbledore smiled at him, eyes twinkling.

"I have recently got in contact with a group of well-known Dark Arts fighters. They are known only as the Rebeldes." Here everyone gasped. The Rebeldes were very famous group. Though no one knew who exactly was in it. "They have agreed to meet with us about protecting Hogwarts this year. They will be here in about two minutes." Dumbledore said.

A long silence met his words as everyone gaped at Dumbledore. The Rebeldes were actually coming here!

After about two minutes, Remus heard a noise from upstairs. It sounded like the front door opening. He then heard muffled voices conversing, it seemed as though Kreacher had let someone in. They were most likely the Rebeldes.

Moments later, a knock was heard on the door.

KNOCK-BANG-KNOCK-KNOCK-BANG-BANG-KNOCK

Everyone quieted.

"Enter." Dumbledore called. The door banged open, and four teens filed in. They were dressed oddly, almost like Muggles, but, even for Muggles, this was odd.

The first was a girl. She had blonde hair with blue streaks, which was pulled back and twisted into a large clip on the back of her head. She was wearing a black mini skirt and a low-cut, blue halter that ended just above her stomach. It was the exact same shade of blue as her hair. Her eyes were also of the same shade of blue. The girl was also wearing black, high-heeled boots that almost reached up to her knees. She had a dagger stuck in between her head and the clip that her hair was in. Its hilt had sapphires on it. There was also a diamond-hilted sword attached to a sword-belt.

The second was another girl who had to be the first girl's twin. They looked alike, and their outfits were similar. The only difference between the two girls' outfits was that wherever the first girl had something blue, this one had the same in green. Her hair-streaks, eyes, and shirt were all green. The dagger in her hair had emeralds on it.

The third was a boy with light-brown hair. It was rather long and accentuated his bright blue eyes. He was wearing black jeans and a blue t-shirt. The boy was also wearing a pair of what looked like black, dragon hide boots. He had a dagger strapped to his right, upper arm. It had sapphires on its hilt. He also had an identical sword in a sword belt as the girls. There was a snowy owl perched on his shoulder.

The fourth was another boy who had dark brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing the same thing as the other boy except his shirt was green, and his dagger had emeralds on its hilt.

The four lined up on either side of the door, guys on one side, girls on the other. The girls were facing the guys and vice-versa. They were holding up their left arms, bent at the elbow and hands in fists, in some sort of salute. Their wands were strapped in holsters on the forearm of their left arm.

After a moment, a fifth teen walked in. His normally messy black hair was covered by a black bandana. He had piercing emerald green eyes that looked intelligent and a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. He was also wearing black jeans, but his shirt was black. His dagger's hilt had rubies and diamonds on it as well as the sapphires and emeralds that the others had. His sword was identical to the others. He had an air of authority as he, too, raised his left arm and lowered it after a few seconds. The others followed suit. This boy was obviously their leader.

**A/N: Hope you liked this first chapter! I don't have much more written. I keep getting stuck. Please review and tell me if there's any thing that you would like to happen. Here are the couples that I'm using. (If you don't recognize the names, that means that they're on of the Rebeldes and haven't been introduced yet—they will be introduced next chapter.)**

**Couples**

**Harry/Ginny (what else?)**

**Ron/Hermione (slightly)**

**Remus/Tonks (again—slightly)**

**Jenna/David (Rebeldes)**

**Lenna/ Tyler (again—Rebeldes)**

**ANY feedback is appreciated. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever! I've been REALLY busy. What with school, dance, and my hurt foot, I just haven't found time to do anything. Oh, well. Here's the new chapter! Oh, yeah, there's a part in this chapter that is a pitiful attempt at humor on my part.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter at all!**

"Who are you?" Dumbledore asked. The leader spoke up.

"I am known as Mist, sometimes Harry. The girl in blue is Quills or Jenna. Her twin is Nails or Lenna. The boy in blue is Scroll or David, and the one in green is Chain or Tyler. We are more commonly known as the Rebeldes." As soon as the boy said this, everyone gaped at them in shock and surprise. Then, the whispering started.

"Why do they always expect someone older?" Chain muttered to Scroll. Scroll just shrugged. Lily stared at Mist.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?" She asked. Mist turned his eyes on her.

"You used to." He said quietly, his eyes darkening slightly. Nails sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh, stop being all mysterious! They'll recognize you soon enough." She said. She ripped off his bandana and ruffled his hair back into its normal mess. Mist glared at her. Lily put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Harry?" She whispered. The room became suddenly quiet as Harry turned to look at the mother he had not seen in seven years.

"Hello, Mother." He said quietly. The whole room stared. Lily rushed forward and tried to hug Harry, but he shrugged her off. "Why do you hug me now, when, seven years ago, you had practically forgotten that I existed?" Tears of rage formed in his eyes.

Quills and Nails moved over to him and put their arms around his shoulders. He hugged them for a second, showing his acknowledgement to their actions.

"Calm down, Mist." Quills said as they released him. Harry gave them a thankful smile. There was an awkward silence in the room as a tearful Lily was comforted by James.

Suddenly, Mist clutched his forehead, swaying. Chain and Scroll steadied him. The Order stared at them. Mist passed out and was laid down on the floor by Scroll and Chain. Scroll calmly pulled out a roll of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle. He unrolled the parchment, dipped his quill in the ink, and looked up expectantly at Harry who awoke seconds later. He started speaking in German so only the Rebeldes would be able to understand.

"He's angry. Those Death Eaters who followed us were supposed to capture me so old Voldie could kill me himself. He tortured them when he found out that we shook them off so easily. He's the only one, besides us and Air, who knows that I'm the one the prophecy spoke about, not the Idiot." Harry said. Scroll wrote all of this down and put the parchment, quill and ink away. The Order stared as the other Rebeldes nodded and acted as if Mist had not just passed out and spoken in a different language. Chain and Scroll helped Mist to his feet.

"Sorry 'bout that, Occupational Hazard. So, you had a job for us?" He said.

"Er….Yes, I was going to ask you to protect Hogwarts this year, but you are all much too young. So, I am sorry, but I must say that no fifteen-year-olds could handle this, except perhaps Nathaniel." Dumbledore said.

There was a black flash, and, when it cleared, what everyone saw shocked them more than ANYTHING they had seen that night.

**A/N: Aren't I evil!?! Muahahahaha! Make sure you R&R! And in those Reviews, I want some ideas! I only have a bit more written, and I'm stuck. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.**

**LYL!**

**Female Marauder!!!!!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Today is your lucky day! I'm in a good mood and have decided to update! Enjoy this chapter!**

**One more time, here are the Rebeldes:**

**Jenna Quills**

**Lenna Nails**

**David Scroll**

**Tyler Chain**

**Harry Mist**

**???? Air (You'll find this one out soon)**

**Disclaimer: Check my Birth Certificate! It doesn't say Joanne Kathleen Rowling, now does it?**

Last Time:

There was a black flash, and, when it cleared, what everyone saw shocked them more than ANYTHING they had seen that night.

Now:

The Rebeldes were gathered around Dumbledore who was lying on his back on the ground. He had three daggers (the boys) and two swords (the girls) aimed at his heart and throat. Harry's foot was on Dumbledore's chest, keeping him down.

"NEVER underestimate the Rebeldes. It could very well be the last thing you ever do." Chain said darkly. Mist took his foot off of Dumbledore's chest, and the Rebeldes returned their weapons to their original spots.

"You've got the job, but just how do you plan on guarding the castle for an entire year?" Dumbledore asked. Quills, Scroll, Nails, and Chain looked pleadingly at Mist. His eyes widened and shook his head frantically at Nails and Chain.

"NO! There's no way we're doing THAT again." Harry said. They nodded sadly. Quills and Scroll looked even more pleadingly at Harry. "If that's the way the vote goes, then fine. All in favor of Plan 296?" Chain raised his hand. "Okay, Plan 142?" Mist raised his hand. "Crap. FINE! Plan 219?" Scroll, Nails, and Quills raised their hands. Harry and Chain cursed under their breath. "Majority rules. Plan 219 it is. Scroll, explain the plan."

"Thank you, Mist. I know how much you hate this pan, but it's best for our situation. Okay. So, basically, we attend Hogwarts and protect it from the inside out." Scroll said. Mist put a hand on Scroll's arm and whispered something in Greek. "Oh, yes. We will NOT be split up under ANY circumstances. Mist will be the only one sorted. Wherever he goes, we go. He's leader, and therefore is the most neutral in the group."

"Wow. It's late." Quills said. "11:30."

"Yeah, where's that free room you promised?" Chain said.

"Well, we'll have the girls share with Ginny and Hermione, and the boys in the spare bedroom." Lily said.

"We'll take the spare bedroom. We can share." Nails said.

"It's highly inappropriate for two teenage girls to be sharing a room with three teenage boys." Molly said.

"Almost all of us are legally adults. Mist will be VERY soon. We can do whatever we please." Quills said. Nobody noticed the quick look that Harry and Ginny shared. **(A/N: read on. It'll be explained soon.)**

"The room is upstairs and to your left." Remus said, speaking for the first time since the meeting began. The Rebeldes nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, and Harry?" Harry turned. "I'd like to speak with you in private tomorrow." Harry nodded and followed the others out the door, but not without giving Remus a slight smile.

**A/N: Okay. I know you don't have any idea what that whole "We're legal adults, and Harry will be one soon" thing. That should be explained in the next chapter if everything goes according to plan. Please Review! And look for the next update. It'll be up soon.**

**LYL!**

**-Female Marauder-**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to the fourth chapter of The Rebeldes. I will now answer questions:**

Is Harry the youngest then?** Actually, they aren't, and if they are it's like a month or so. (I haven't figured out b-days yet.) The whole "legal adults" thing has nothing to do with age.**

Is Ginny Air? **Maybe, I won't give anything away, but you'll find out who Air is in this chapter.**

**ALL THOSE WHO KEEP SAYING THAT THIS IS FAMILIAR, LISTEN UP! I SAID THIS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER, AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: THIS IS SORT OF MY VERSION OF LITTLE MISS MIONIE'S THE REBELLION.**

**Now, on with the chapter:**

**Disclaimer: I'll break this down nice and slow. MY. NAME. IS. NOT. JOANNE. KATHLENE. ROWLING. (enough said)**

Last Time:

"The room is upstairs and to your left." Remus said, speaking for the first time since the meeting began. The Rebeldes nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, and Harry?" Harry turned. "I'd like to speak with you in private tomorrow." Harry nodded and followed the others out the door, but not without giving Remus a slight smile.

Now:

The kitchen quickly filled with talk about Grimauld Place's new guests.

"Where do you think they've been?" asked the younger ones.

"Who knew the Rebeldes were only 15?" some asked.

"Why did they come? It seemed like none of them really wanted to be here," yet others asked.

Suddenly, a snowy white owl soared through the window and dropped a letter in the center of the kitchen. The bird then proceeded to fly over to Ginny and nip at her finger affectionately when she stroked her feathers.

Arthur picked up the letter. He read it and frowned at it, confused.

"Read it aloud, Arthur," Tonks said.

"It says:

Niebla necesitar Aire. **(roughly translates to "Mist needs Air.")**

Whatever that means," Arthur said. Hermione frowned.

"Tonto buho," Ginny muttered. **(roughly translates to "Stupid owl,")**

"That has to be in Spanish. Funny, it means 'Mist needs Air.' We know who Mist is, but who's Air?" Hermione said. Murmurs of "No clue" and "No idea" met her question.

"I think I'm just gonna go to bed." Ginny fake-yawned. "Night, everyone." She walked out.

Ginny rushed to the bedroom she shared with Hermione. She quickly arranged the pillows and blankets on her bed to look like she was buried under the covers.

She made sure that it looked convincing and ran upstairs to the room the Rebeldes were staying in. She knocked.

KNOCK-BANG-KNOCK-KNOCK-BANG-BANG-KNOCK

The door swung slowly open, and Ginny stepped inside as it closed behind her.

"Hey, guys," she said.

"Hey, Air," they said. **(You were right, all you people who thought Ginny was Air!)**

"Yo, Nails, toss me my wand," Ginny said. Nails obliged, and Ginny expertly caught it. She waved it over herself, and her clothes changed. She was now wearing the same thing as the twins, except in black. Ginny next changed her hair to look like that of the other girls, except with black streaks. The dagger in her hair had black diamonds in its hilt, and her sword had diamonds like everyone else's.

"Ah, that's better," she said. "I'm much prettier, now." Nails, Quills, Chain, and Scroll snorted.

"You always look radiant, Gin." Harry smirked. "But I must say, I do enjoy this look more."

"Mist," Air said as she walked over to him and kissed him firmly on the lips.

A couple minutes later, they broke apart.

"So, Mist, NOW are you glad I wrote that letter? I mean, seriously, you've been moaning on and on about how much you missed her for a year now," Scroll said. Air raised an eyebrow at Mist.

"Hey, I love you. Don't I have the right to miss you?" he said defensively. Ginny smiled.

"I love you, too. And, I missed you as well. It's worse for me, though. I can't tell anyone about you. Even if I could, there's no on to talk TO. You guys are my only friends," she said.

"Stop with the sweet and innocent act! Where's the hot and fiery tempered girl with the attitude? I have a feeling that that's the girl Mist fell in love with," Chain said.

"You want attitude? I'll show you attitude!" Air said, expertly throwing her dagger at Chain's head. He barely caught it, but tossed it back.

"That's more like it," He said. Ginny glared at him.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

**A/N: That concludes the fourth chapter of The Rebeldes. So, a bit of suspense there at the end. Please tell me if I should keep going. I only have enough for about half a chapter left, and I need ideas. After that, all I know is that there's going to be some major conflict between the Potter twins about a certain Redhead.**

**LYL!**

**Female Marauder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey peeps! No, I'm not dead, I'm just really busy. Thank you for all of the reviews! It feels great to be appreciated for my writing. You guys ROCK! Well, that's all I've got for now. Here's the new chapter!!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter! If you think I do, I'll quote the movie: " How thick can you get?"**

Last time:

"You want attitude? I'll show you attitude!" Air said, expertly throwing her dagger at Chain's head. He barely caught it, but tossed it back.

"That's more like it," He said. Ginny glared at him.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Now:

Air quickly waved her wand and changed herself back into her normal appearance as Ginny. She slid off of Mist's lap and shoved her wand into her boot. Quills opened the door. There, standing in the doorway, was none other than Ron, Hermione, and Nate.

"What do you want?" Nails asked. The trio sneered.

"We thought you might like to know that we just, single-handedly captured two Death Eaters," Nate said arrogantly.

"Ginny? What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"I'll explain later," Ginny said.

"Call Sting and see if he and Flare know anything," Scroll suggested. Mist pulled a black, rectangular screen out of his pocket and pressed his thumb to it.

"RU 1: Leader, Mist." A cool female voice **(A/N: stolen from Ootp!)** issued from the screen. Mist touched the screen. "Command: Call." He pressed another place on the screen. "RU 2: Leader, Sting." **(A/N: all of the speaking in this paragraph is the voice from the screen.)**

A few moments later, a male voice came from the screen.

"This is Sting. Errr…There's a situation here, sir."

"That why I'm not getting a visual?" Mist asked.

"Affirmative. We are not secure," Sting said.

"Well what's the situation, then?" Mist questioned.

"Err…, well…, you see…"Sting began.

"Spit it out, or Flare's getting a promotion," Mist growled.

"We've been captured. Flare and I that is. We could easily escape, but we're under orders not to harm our captors, sir," Sting said. Mist closed his eyes.

"I think I have an idea, but who are your captors?"

"Oh, just some goons from the order of the phoenix." Sting replied.

"Hold tight, we'll be there in a few moments," Mist sighed. "Mist out."

"Sting out," came the reply. Mist put the screen into his pocket.

"Let's go," he said, looking up at the Rebeldes and the so-called 'Golden Trio.' The 'Trio' led the Rebeldes downstairs and into the drawing room.

"Here they are." Nate pointed at two teens tied up on the floor. The first was male and had stormy-grey eyes, blonde hair, and a slight tan. The other was female and had blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a dark tan. James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Molly, Arthur, and Dumbledore were guarding them.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," Mist said. The teens on the floor quickly jumped up, untied. Their guards looked at them, astounded.

"But-but-but…they…tied up…how…escape…what…?" James stuttered confusedly. The teens ignored him.

"Err… Hello, sir," the boy said.

"Oh, this is awesome! I finally have some dirt on you two!" Nails exclaimed. "I can see it now. _Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini: captives of the Order of the Phoenix_." Draco and Blaise glared at her.

"Just to be safe, identify yourselves," Chain said.

"RU 2: Leader, Sting, AKA: Draco Malfoy," Draco stated.

"RU 2: Second-in-Command, Flare, AKA: Blaise Zabini," Blaise said.

"Correct. So, just how did you get yourselves into this predicament?" Chain asked.

"Well, the Supreme Leader **(A/N: That's Mist/Harry)** gave us orders to infiltrate the Slytherins. We also had to pretend not to like Air, so those two things led up to this lot not liking us. Then, the Supreme Leader gave us orders not to harm the Order of the Phoenix. Tonight, we simply came to report the results of the mission that the Supreme Leader assigned to us when those three idiots," here, she indicated Nate, Hermione, and Ron, "attacked us," Blaise said.

"It's probably because of all of the fighting we do with Air. Sir, your girlfriend has a bit of an attitude problem. No disrespect, of course, Supreme Leader, sir," Sting said to Mist.

**A/N: Sorry it's so short and that it's kind of a bad ending. I want to save some stuff for the next chapter.**

**So, R&R everybody!!**

**LYL!**

**Female Marauder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

UPDATE: I'm re-uploading this chapter to let you all know that the rewrite, Rebel, is now live. It can be found at: s/8352827/1/bRebel_b (Hopefully the link shows up, if not, it's accessible from my profile)

**Yes, this is the dreaded Author's Note chapter. Yikes. I'm so sorry for this, too. But I thought it was only fair to inform you, my amazing readers (to whom I am incredibly grateful), of the reasons behind my lack of updates.**

SCROLL DOWN, AS I HAVE SOMETHING THAT'S _NOT_ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE BELOW!

**Basically, my parents banned me from fanfiction. They felt the lack of control over material content of my reading was unacceptable, and I was therefore not allowed to read or write anymore.**

**I have now taken the initiative and lifted that ban. Thankfully, my parents don't have a problem with it anymore. And yes, I do realize that I pretty much just gave away how old I am: still a teenager.**

**And here's the kicker: I wrote this story when I was in the…godric, sixth and seventh grades? Now I'm going into my senior year of high school, and I am appalled by the quality of my writing in this story. I didn't even have a plot outlined or anything.**

**So, now I'm going to take a closer look at The Rebeldes and see if I can rewrite it. I'll post a poll on my profile page, and you guys can vote on whether you want me to keep the original up or take it down. I'll go ahead and take a shot in the dark and say that you probably want the original to stay up.**

**I don't know how long it will take me to rewrite this story, or if I can even come up with a decent plot for it. So, please, don't check your email every day, praying that there will be an update. I can't guarantee it. I haven't been reading much HP fanfiction recently, as I've become addicted to Young Justice fics.**

**Also, a great big THANK YOU to my 100****th**** reviewer…who was anonymous. But, anyway, I'm really grateful that all of you have been following my story and actually enjoyed it somewhat. Hopefully, if I end up with a rewrite, I can make it even better for you guys.**

**Some things that will be different about the rewrite (however distantly in the future it sits):**

***The Spanish. I apologize to everyone who cringed at my horrible Spanish. I don't speak the language, and I took everything from online translators. So, in the rewrite, I will be using French, as I actually am learning that language and am halfway decent at it.**

***Story Flow. I don't think I did a very good job, and I can now see why my story got turned down from SIYE five-ish years ago. The rewrite will flow better as my writing has improved tenfold in the past few years.**

***Content. I was in a rebellious phase when I wrote this story (Hence my desire to write it in the first place), so the content reflects that. i.e. clothing, character actions, etc. I'm more mature now, so hopefully content will be more…believable? I don't know what the correct word to describe it is, but, basically, it'll be better.**

***Names. I'm just not happy with the names that my sixth-grade brain provided. I will include a list of name changes in the rewrite so it will make more sense.**

**Um…that's all I can think of right now. I just wanted to thank you all for your continued support.**

**So….here's the prologue to my rewrite of The Rebeldes. It's not polished. I literally just whipped it out in about an hour or so, but it's something. Hopefully, I'll come up with more soon. But, for now, I'm going to bed as it is almost 3am. Good night and enjoy!**

**Character Name Changes:**

Jenna/Quills to Eve

Lenna/Nails to Zoe

David/Scroll to Jason

Tyler/Chain to Cameron

Harry is still Mist

**Prologue**

Quiet breathing. The slightest whisper of rustling clothes. The barely-detectable crackle of a spell. These few sounds were all the guards heard that night.

It took all of three minutes for sixteen of the seventeen guards to fall prey to their assailants. Only one remained. Only one, and he was terrified.

A small, metal object clattered across the floor. As the guard stared, it lit up and purple smoke billowed out. He began coughing violently after inhaling a mouthful. What little around him that wasn't obscured by the smoke grew hazy. His addled mind registered a blurred, shadowy outline before he gave in to the darkness.

Five figures seemed to solidify out of the shadows of the room. They were all dressed identically in dark, loose cargo pants and black hoodies. It was impossible to discern any identifying traits from their appearances. Not even gender was obvious. Thought, if one looked closer, perhaps the stretching of a hoodie might suggest feminine curves on two of the figures.

"Really, Mist? You _had_ to use the smoke?" The speaker was obviously female. Her voice conveyed her exasperation. Another of the figures gracefully maneuvered her way over to the vault that the guards had been watching, sank to her knees, and began the process of breaking into it.

"I agree with Eve. I don't see the point in the smoke bomb." This speaker was male. Instead of exasperation, however, his voice contained strains of contained amusement, as if he was only pretending to be annoyed.

"Jason, for the _last_ time, they are not called 'smoke bombs.' That's way too unimaginative. They're 'Mist bombs.' See the difference?" Another male. His voice was obviously one of a leader, but it was filled with glee. Had they not been wearing hoods, it would have been obvious that Jason was rolling his eyes.

"No, I can't _see_ a difference, as you're speaking. Therefore, it is an audial difference rather than visual," he replied.

"For Merlin's sake, Jason. Stop taking everything so literally." A third male spoke up, a hint of deep-seated suffering tinting his tone.

"It's not my fault that you all choose to speak incorrectly, Cameron." Jason replied. "Besides, Mist, your obsession with putting your nickname in front of everything you invent stopped being funny years ago." Mist gasped in fake anger.

"Batman does it!" he replied, as if this fact should have made it acceptable.

"Well, hate to break it to you, mate, but _you're not Batman_," said Jason.

"Shut up, Jase," Mist answered.

"Maybe you could all shut up so I could finish cracking this combination." The final member of the group, this one a girl, spoke up from her spot in front of the vault.

"Perhaps we should look into a safe-cracking spell, Eve. If one doesn't exist, I'm sure we could invent something, especially with our combined knowledge of spell-crafting," Jason suggested.

"What did I _just_ say about shutting up?" The second girl sounded even more annoyed.

"Sorry, Zoe." She ignored him.

"And…drop three. Got it!" Zoe exclaimed. The vault door swung open. She began casting detection spells, checking for booby-traps.

"Sixty-two seconds. Not your best time, Zoe," Cameron stated as he stepped forward. As her diagnostic results showed up negative, the two of them entered the vault.

"I'd like to see you do better! This is the new SpellSafe 3250. We're lucky I was able to bypass the magical signature scanner. Otherwise, we'd have been sucked into the vault. Damn, I miss the good old days where these things were just three tumblers and near-indestructible. Now they're _completely_ indestructible, unless seriously dark magic is used. And, even then, you can't guarantee anything," Zoe said, annoyed.

"I hear that. Even in the muggle world, everything's so high-tech now. Seems like everything has a retinal, fingerprint, or some sort of biometric scanner attached to it. Watch, in a few years, you won't be able to make _toast_ without a blood sample. It's ridiculous!" Cameron exclaimed.

"If you two are done soapboxing, can we get what we came for?" Jason asked.

"Here it is," Mist said quietly. He reached out with a gloved hand and gently picked up a bejeweled broach. It was shaped like a spider, with a giant yellow stone for a body.

"You're sure that's what killed those women?" Eve asked.

"It's definitely cursed," Zoe observed.

"Yes, this is it," Mist replied. Cameron pulled out a black box from his pocket and opened it. Mist carefully placed the broach inside, and Cameron gently closed it. "Let's go. We'll destroy it when we get home." The others nodded.

Without a word, the five of them all disappeared at the same time, reappearing miles away in a place they called home. They were eager to destroy the broach and collect the payment for the job. Little did they know that, very soon, they would be contacted with another job. And this job would shake the foundations that they'd lived upon for years.


End file.
